Tower-construction with overhangs to support light-weight dwellings

ABSTRACT

A building comprising a central tower, and cantilever platforms located above the ground and extending horizontally outwardly from the tower. A light-weight self-supporting building unit is mounted and supported on each platform. The tower includes passages for access from the ground to the individual building units.

United States Patent 1191 Laurent 51 March 6, 1973 1541 TOWER-CONSTRUCTION WITH 3,213,572 10/1965 1101118 .32/73 OVERHANGS TO SUPPQRT LIGHT- 3,226,727 12/1965 Frey ..52/73 WEIGHT DWELLNGS $233??? if X l1 335332 mo [76] Inventor: Felciai Laurent, 34, Place Jean Bart, 3 342 003 9 19 7 Frey 52 23 59 Dunkerque, France 3,388,512 6/1968 Newman ....52/236 3,395,502 8/1968 Frey ..52/73 [22] July 1970 3,613,321 10/1971 Rohrer ..s2/73 [21] Appl. No.: 57,947 3,525,186 8/1970 Lombardo ..52/236 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [30] Foreign Application Priority Data A 129 1970 F 7015657 1,298,716 6/1972 France ..52/236 prl rance Primary Examiner-John E. Murtagh [52] US. Cl. ..52/73, 52/79, 5522/;28356, Assistant Examiner Leslie Braun 51 1m. 01 ..E04b 1/34, E04h 1/02 Attorney-Lawn and Hmds [58] Field of Search....52/73, 79, 234, 236, 175, 176, [57] ABSTRACT A building comprising a central tower, and cantilever [56] References Cited platforms located above the ground and extending horizontally outwardly from the tower. A light-weight UNITED STATES PATENTS self-supporting building unit is mounted and supported 3,541,744 11/1970 Maxwell ..52/73 on eachplatform. The tower includes passages for ac- 2,154,897 4/1939 Grant cess from the ground to the individual building units. 2,255,511 9/1941 Muller 2,499,498 3/1950 Hammond, Jr ..52/79 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures T l I 1 no? I i l I] 2 I 4 1O /-1 l -r 4 -l+:- 1"1 F 'l 1 W 1 l 2 W L l=l= 1/ L f I 1 A 5 l 7 1 L J l A i.

I l .1 i T/ GROUND PATENTEDMAR 619B 3.719012 SHEET 10F 2 INVENTOR LAURENT FELCIAI BY Q 2506 ATTORNEYS PATENTED R 6M5 '3;'r19.012

SHEET 20F 2 GROUND INVENTOR- LAURENT FELCIAI ATTORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to buildings; and in particular it relates to a new and improved arrangement of individual building units in a building.

In conventional buildings, both common areas and individual areas (the latter including, for example, individual apartment units in an apartment building or individual offices in an office building) are normally designed and constructed together as a single overall integrated building structure.

There are disadvantages to such conventional buildings but these have always been accepted as being unavoidable. These disadvantages include, for example, the fact that such structures occupy a relatively large outside ground area, the discomforts of noises, odors, etc. from closely adjacent building units and the lack of privacy.

Thus, there exists a need in the field of building construction wherein many of the known disadvantages can be overcome orat least minimized.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thus, it is a purpose of this invention to provide a new and improved concept in the field of building construction which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.

According to the present invention, this purpose is achieved by providing a totally different concept in the field of building construction. According to the present invention, there is provided a central tower having at least one but normally a plurality of overhangs or cantilever supports connected to, supported by and extending generally horizontally outwardly from the central tower. The individual building units, such as the individual offices or the individual apartments are first constructed as light-weight self-supporting units. An individual unit is then mounted on a platform. The central tower includes passage means including a staircase or the like for entering the tower at the ground level and going up to the level of the respective building units. Entrance passages are provided from this common area into each of the individual building units.

A type of light-weight building unit adapted to be mounted and supported on a platform of the building of the present invention may include a light-weight construction having inner and outer walls connected by an open rib structure and with the space between the two walls further filled with a light-weight granular or cellular material such as foams including phenolic polyurethane, expanding polystyrene, cellulous acetate, polyvinyl chloride, etc. A full disclosure of the construction of such a light-weight building unit is included in my application Ser. No. 57,946 being filed on even date herewith and based on a French application filed Apr. 29, 1970 which application is now abandoned in favor of a copending continuation-in-part application filed Sept. 27, 1971.

Buildings constructed in this manner would have remarkable advantages over conventional buildings. There would be a very distinct recovery of ground surface area which could then be transformed into lawns, gardens, playgrounds or the like. Further, each individual building unit would have the advantages of condiminiums including a human environment, safety, convenient facilities. At the same time, however, the units would not have the inconveniences of building units in conventional building units including noises from neighbors, lack of privacy, odors coming from other apartments and through the staircase, etc.

In addition, the present invention would allow a new architectural design including spacial structures" where the individual dwelling units themselves are 0 completely open to the outside all around. Another advantage is that the streets bordering such structures would have an unobstructed view at ground level.

Thus, it is a purpose of this invention to provide a new and improved building design which overcomes the disadvantages of known buildings.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved building in which the individual building units are separate structures connected to a main central unit.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new building design which will occupy far less ground area than a conventional building of the same overall size.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved building having a central tower, cantilever type platforms extending outwardly therefrom, and individual building units mounted and supported on these platforms.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved building comprising a central tower with platforms extending outwardly therefrom and individual building units mounted on these platforms, and wherein both access and lines for facilities to the individual building units are provided through the central tower.

Other objects and the advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description to follow, together with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION THE DRAWINGS I There follows a detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention to be read together with the accompanying drawings. However, it is to be understood that the description and the drawings are provided only for purposes of illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a building unit constructed in accordance with the features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing a modification of the invention.

, FIG. 4 is an elevational view similar to FIG. 1 but showing another modification of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view through a wall having a light-weight construction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the figures, like elements are represented by like numerals throughout the several views.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a central tower 1 having a plurality of cantilever platforms 2 fixed thereto and extending outwardly therefrom. Ah

individual light-weight building unit 10 is shown on two of the platforms in FIG. 1 and on one of the three platforms visible in FIG. 2. Although the central tower is shown as being circular in cross-section, it can have any convenient cross-section, for example, oval, rectangular, square, concave polygon, convex polygon, curvilinear polygon, or irregular. Also, although FIGS. 1 and 2 show three platforms in a common height above the ground, there may in fact be one, two or any number of platforms (each platform supporting an individual building unit), the actual number of platforms depending on individual building requirements and of course on the construction of the central tower. This central tower may be constructed of any convenient material such as metal or reinforced concrete. Preferably, all lines for facilities such as water, electricity, power systems, etc. will be located within the central tower as they pass from the ground to the individual building units. The central tower also includes passage means for going from ground level to the individual building units. For example, the door 6 at ground level enters into the central tower l. The central tower may include an elevator shaft (not shown) and/or a staircase 3 for going from the ground level to the levels of the individual building units. At these levels, there will be individual doors 7 leading from the central tower out to the individual building units 10.

The central tower 1 may also include small rooms 4 for storage or the like and it may be provided on intermediate floor levels 5 provided in the central tower between the levels of the platforms 2.

FIG. 3 illustrates two modifications of the invention. According to a first modification, there is shown four separate platforms rather than three. As indicated above, however, any number of platforms may be provided. Further, in this case, the tower 1 has formed thereon platforms 2 each of which comprise a plurality of individual cantilever elements rather than a continuous platform as in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 shows still another modification. In this case, the diameter of the central tower l" is greater than its height.

In other respects, the modifications of FIGS. 3 and 4 would include all of the features described with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2.

A type of light-weight building unit adapted to be mounted and supported on aplatform of the building of the present invention may include a light-weight wall construction as shown in FIG. 5 having inner and outer walls and 11, respectively, connected together by an open rib structure 12 and with the space between the two walls further filled with a light-weight granular or cellular material 13. 7

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail with respect to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that the invention is capable of numerous modifications and variations apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Iclaim:

l. A building comprising:

a central tower extending from ground level upwardly to at least one building unit level located above the ground level, said central tower including means for providing access for eople into the tower at ground level and vertical y between the ground level and said building unit level through the central tower,

plurality of cantilever platforms located at said building unit level and secured to and substantially completely supported by the central tower from which they extend outwardly from connections with the central tower as cantilevers in a direction away from the center of said tower to outer ends spaced away from the outside of the central tower, said platforms being spaced above the ground such that the ground space in the vicinity of said building is opened except for the central tower,

means for providing access for people from the central tower onto each of said platforms,

a building unit resting on each of said platforms, each said building unit being a completely self-contained unit independent from the central tower or the platforms, at least a major portion of the walls of each building unit being light-weight walls made up of inside and outside walls spaced apart and connected together by an open rib structure,

the weight of each said building unit being borne completely on the upper surface of its respective platform, each said building having a substantial portion of the area of its bottom surface projecting outwardly beyond the said outer end and the sides of its respective platform, the building units at said building unit level being spaced apart around the central tower such that the perpendicular line of sight from at least a major portion of each side of each building unit passes outside of the adjacent building unit.

2. A building unit according to claim 1, including a plurality of said building unit levels located above the first said building unit level, and each said level including said platforms extending outwardly from the tower, a said building unit mounted on and supported by each platform.

3. A building according to claim 1 including a main floor in the central tower at the level of each building unit level, and intermediate floor levels between said main floor levels.

4. A building according to claim 1 including a plurality of groups of platforms, each group located at a different building unit level above the ground, and each group including a plurality of platforms located at the same height above the ground and extending outwardly from the tower in different directions, each one of said platforms of the groups having mounted thereon one of said self-supporting building units.

5. A building according to claim 1, each said platform having a solid upper surface.

6. A building according to claim 1, each said platform having an open surface comprising a number of individual support elements.

7. A building according to claim 1, the space between the two walls being at least partially filled with a light-weight synthetic granular or cellular filling material. 

1. A building comprising: a central tower extending from ground level upwardly to at least one building unit level located above the ground level, said central tower including means for providing access for people into the tower at ground level and vertically between the ground level and said building unit level through the central tower, a plurality of cantilever platforms located at said building unit level and secured to and substantially completely supported by the central tower from which they extend outwardly from connections with the central tower as cantilevers in a direction away from the center of said tower to outer ends spaced away from the outside of the central tower, said platforms being spaced above the ground such that the ground space in the vicinity of said building is opened except for the central tower, means for providing access for people from the central tower onto each of said platforms, a building unit resting on each of said platforms, each said building unit being a completely self-contained unit independent from the central tower or the platforms, at least a major portion of the walls of each building unit being lightweight walls made up of inside and outside walls spaced apart and connected together by an open rib structure, the weight of each said building unit being borne completely on the upper surface of its respective platform, each said building having a substantial portion of the area of its bottom surface projecting outwardly beyond the said outer end and the sides Of its respective platform, the building units at said building unit level being spaced apart around the central tower such that the perpendicular line of sight from at least a major portion of each side of each building unit passes outside of the adjacent building unit.
 1. A building comprising: a central tower extending from ground level upwardly to at least one building unit level located above the ground level, said central tower including means for providing access for people into the tower at ground level and vertically between the ground level and said building unit level through the central tower, a plurality of cantilever platforms located at said building unit level and secured to and substantially completely supported by the central tower from which they extend outwardly from connections with the central tower as cantilevers in a direction away from the center of said tower to outer ends spaced away from the outside of the central tower, said platforms being spaced above the ground such that the ground space in the vicinity of said building is opened except for the central tower, means for providing access for people from the central tower onto each of said platforms, a building unit resting on each of said platforms, each said building unit being a completely self-contained unit independent from the central tower or the platforms, at least a major portion of the walls of each building unit being light-weight walls made up of inside and outside walls spaced apart and connected together by an open rib structure, the weight of each said building unit being borne completely on the upper surface of its respective platform, each said building having a substantial portion of the area of its bottom surface projecting outwardly beyond the said outer end and the sides Of its respective platform, the building units at said building unit level being spaced apart around the central tower such that the perpendicular line of sight from at least a major portion of each side of each building unit passes outside of the adjacent building unit.
 2. A building unit according to claim 1, including a plurality of said building unit levels located above the first said building unit level, and each said level including said platforms extending outwardly from the tower, a said building unit mounted on and supported by each platform.
 3. A building according to claim 1 including a main floor in the central tower at the level of each building unit level, and intermediate floor levels between said main floor levels.
 4. A building according to claim 1 including a plurality of groups of platforms, each group located at a different building unit level above the ground, and each group including a plurality of platforms located at the same height above the ground and extending outwardly from the tower in different directions, each one of said platforms of the groups having mounted thereon one of said self-supporting building units.
 5. A building according to claim 1, each said platform having a solid upper surface.
 6. A building according to claim 1, each said platform having an open surface comprising a number of individual support elements. 